Fans of Thumper
by Jancys-Blue-Bayou
Summary: Nancy convinces Jonathan to dress up as Thumper for Halloween - while El gets to decide the theme for the Party's group costume.


"What are you going as for Halloween?"

"Nancy, it's September."

"Yeah I know. So what are you going as for Halloween?"

"I don't know, same as last year?"

"What were you last year?" She asks, scrunching her nose up in that adorable way she does as she tries to remember. He doubts she will remember though.

"Myself."

"Oh right! Boooo!"

"You're booing me now?" He chuckles.

"No, just your boring costume choice. Come on, it's Halloween, it's fun!"

"It's also almost two months away."

"So?"

"Little early to think about?"

"It's never to early to think about! Dressing up is fun! Halloween is like my favorite holiday. Maybe next to Christmas."

He remembers Nancy's Christmas spirit vividly. He can only imagine Halloween will be spectacular.

"And this year will be the best because I won't be depressed and I won't get _sheetfaced_ ," she wryly continues. He presses a kiss to her temple.

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know, apart from dressing up and seeing you dressed up. And to not get sheetfaced."

"Right. I mean, yeah sure, I just haven't dressed up since I was like twelve. Me and Will used to dress up together, but I kind of outgrew it and he and the boys started making plans for group costumes then. He asked me if I wanted in but I bowed out."

"Aw. But what did you guys use to be?"

"Uh… last time I think was Captain Kirk and Spock. You know, from Star Trek. I always let him decide."

"Oh my god that's so sweet! Which one were you?"

"Kirk, he wanted to be Spock. Year before that we were Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan."

Nancy audibly coos. He looks over at her. She's hugging her Pluto stuffed animal to her chest and smiling at him.

"Sorry, continue. You're just adorable, you know."

She's told him that a lot over the past year.

"Right… uh, I'm trying to remember… oh, we were Bert and Ernie one year."

"Oh my God! That is the sweetest thing," she swiftly kisses him. "Is there photos of this? Tell me there's photos of this!"

"I'm not sure…" he tries. She's not buying it.

"I'm going to ask your mom."

"Uh oh."

"I've always loved dress up. Me and Barb always went trick or treating together but we could never agree on a duo costume like you guys."

She goes quiet, but at least she smiles at the memories she seems to have momentary lost herself in. He's glad she's now at a place where she can think about Barb, talk about her, without feeling sad every time. It wasn't like that before, last autumn after the funeral she similarly got lost in memories sometimes but it wasn't happy, like it is now. She breaks out into a small giggle as a particular memory seems to come to mind for her.

"There was one time," she starts, giggling more. "Hang on, I've got a photo."

She thrusts Pluto into his hands and jumps up from her bed. She goes over to the pinboard on her wall adorned with old photos through the years - and increasingly more new ones of the two of them together, the times she's gotten him to step in front of the camera too. She settles back onto the bed, leaning into him, with a photo in hand.

"You went as the Easter Bunny for Halloween?" He grins.

"Yes."

"You look adorable," he presses a kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks," she blushes.

"Barb looks terrifying though," he smiles and she laughs and nods her head.

"I know! She was supposed to be Ronald McDonald but doesn't she look more like Evil Ronald McDonald?"

"Yeah," he chuckles. "I mean, I think regular Ronald McDonald looks evil anyway so, it's accurate."

"True. And it was the funniest thing, Mike's scared of clowns. And this is from freshman year so he must've been 11, and he was starting to try to be a little tougher you know," Nancy has to pause herself as more cute laughter bubbles up. "I heard him talking to Lucas in the basement about how he wasn't scared of ghosts or scary movies or anything. So I told Barb to wait in the den and turned off all the lights there, and went and got the boys, I told them they had to see something before they went out, and I led them to the den and Barb jumped out from behind with a flashlight lighting up her face from under and God you should've seen Mike, he jumped through the roof!"

He laughs with Nancy, he can just picture it. Eventually she quiets and looks wistfully at the photo again. Then her brow furrows and a look comes over her. He knows that look. She's just had an idea.

"You should be Thumper!" She exclaims.

"What?"

"For Halloween! You should be Thumper!"

"Why?" He chuckles.

"Because you will look-"

"Adorable?" He rolls his eyes.

"Yes! So you agree?"

"That I look adorable?"

"Yes?"

"No."

"That you'll go as Thumper?"

"Also no."

"Come on! It'll be so good! You know, I'm a fan of Thumper too! And I'm a big fan of you," she says and kisses him.

"No."

"Oh my God, I can be Miss Bunny! It's the perfect couples costume for us!"

"It is?"

"Yes! She's got blue eyes like me, he's got hazel eyes like you and he's cute and they're in love!"

"Right."

"Oh God, you even have his mannerisms!"

"What?"

"You tap your foot too, just like he does!"

"I do?"

"Yes you do, when you're nervous or antsy!"

"Oh. Right, involuntary reflex."

"For him too! It's perfect!"

"I don't know…"

"Come on," she pleads, kissing him again.

"Hm…"

"Please…" another kiss.

About 50 kisses later, she's gotten a yes out of him. Really he wasn't trying to be difficult but, she kept kissing him and he enjoyed it.

"You look ridiculous."

Without breaking focus from her task of painting the whiskers onto Jonathan's face, she bites back at Mike.

"No, we look cute. And you're pretty uppity for someone who's costume isn't even accurate."

"What do you mean?" Mike huffs. She turns around and eyes her little brother, dressed in forest green shirt, pants and a yellow hat with a red feather.

"In the Disney version, which I know is the only one El has seen and therefore the one that inspired this, Robin Hood isn't wearing pants, he's just in a tunic. One cut pretty low at that. Foxy," she waggles her eyebrows.

"Hey it's freezing out, plus I'm pretty sure Hopper would arrest me if I go outside with no pants on," Mike counters while adjusting the quiver of toy arrows on his back and the bow thrown over his shoulder.

"Think he'll arrest you if he catches you guys smooching again," she teases. Mike looks mortified.

"We d-" He starts but is interrupted.

"Mike, we need more pillows to stuff Max's, Lucas's and Will's costumes."

El has joined them, in the flawless Maid Marian costume she helped the girl put together. El's eyes light up when she sees her and Jonathan's costumes.

"You look so cute!"

"Thank you! See Mike! Anyway, El you can take my pillows," she smiles at the girl. She's planning on sleeping in Jonathan's room tonight anyway.

"Thanks Nancy, you're the best!"

While El and Mike grab her pillows and go back downstairs she puts the finishing touches on Jonathan's makeup.

"You do indeed look adorable," she tells him when she's done.

"So do you," he smiles and places a kiss on her nose.

"No! You'll smudge it," she protests through giggles. Picking up her vanity mirror she sees that she does indeed need to fix her bunny nose now. "No more nose kisses tonight! And watch our whiskers too."

"I'll try to contain myself," he grins and kisses her lips instead.

Descending the stairs they can hear her mother engaged in a discussion with Mike on the subject of posing for photos. Mike's quickly silenced when El enters the debate though.

"Oh good there they are- oh my God you two look adorable," her mom coos, clasping her hands together. "Anyway, Jonathan would you do the honors?" She then asks, holding up her polaroid camera.

"Oh sure, Mrs. Wheeler," Jonathan of course obliges her mom even though he normally doesn't like shooting polaroid.

"Okay guys, get together."

The kids all pose together for Jonathan. Mike and El as Robin Hood and Maid Marian are joined by Lucas as Little John, Max as Lady Cluck, Will as Friar Tuck and Dustin as Alan-a-dale. Mike especially looks ridiculous in his costume but happily poses for El's sake. Personally Nancy thinks that her decision to introduce El to the world of Disney is one of the best things she's done this year. And that Mike and the rest of the gang let El pick the theme for their group costume for her first Halloween she finds very sweet.

"Hang on, one more," Jonathan says when he gives back her mother's camera and picks up his own. Mike groans a little. "Mom wants one too," he says and gets another group shot before also taking an individual one of Will.

"Can we go now?" Mike sighs.

"Sure. Or how about one with just Robin and Marian?" Jonathan grins. She could kiss him for that. Mike groans as Lucas, Max, Will and Dustin all do exaggerated coos while El giddily nods. It's impossible for Mike to say no to El of course. Jonathan takes her mother's camera one more time and snaps of one of the couple.

"Now can we go?"

Jonathan looks to her mother for confirmation that she's satisfied. She smiles widely and nods.

"Sure, you kids have fun!"

Robin Hood and his maid and his Merrymen pile out the door to start their hunt for candy. She and Jonathan soon follow them out. Carrie from her French class invited them to a horror movie night slash costume party. It feels like more their scene than Tina's party, though she thinks they might leave early as Will came to her house with the information that Joyce was going out with Hopper after dropping him off…

This year's Halloween already kicks last year's butt, she thinks as she looks up at her adorable Thumper walking hand in hand with her out to his car. He opens the passenger side door for her, an old-fashioned act of chivalry he does every time he gets the chance to and it makes her blush every time. She leans up and kisses him and he eagerly deepens it. She notices something.

"Are you tapping your foot?"

"Maybe," he grins.

She shakes her head, they rewatched Bambi several times after she convinced him of the costumes, and she may have cooed at the kissing scene every time.

"Dork," she grins and pecks his lips again.


End file.
